Dead Drunk — Mark Travis

Sacramento Homicide Detective 'Harker' Smith is called to a horribly smashed corpse stretched on clean concrete behind a shopping center. He concludes a murderer stretched the unconscious victim around the front wheel and tire of a heavy vehicle, trussed him like a mummy with duct tape, then awakened him and slowly rollered him to death. After The Steamroller Killer leaves his third messy victim, Smith discovers each man had a serious drinking problem and prior drunk driving convictions. Each corpse has been drugged and each had a new criminal jury trial for vehicular manslaughter on the court's calendar. Smith eventually questions a suspect who lost his pregnant wife and toddler daughter to a drunk driver, but the District Attorney declares the evidence too slim for an arrest warrant. Smith and his new partner, Susan Mosier, create a plan which calls for the early release from state prison of the man who murdered their suspect's family. They dangle him as bait and hope the killer does not change his modus operandi and execute the prisoner with the Magnum pistol they know he has.